Standard Chartered today announced that it has expanded its African coverage of Straight2Bank Wallet, the Bank's mobile wallet service platform, by launching mobile payment services in Nigeria and adding mobile collections capabilities in Kenya. The Bank launched mobile payment services in Kenya in September 2013.

In Nigeria, the Bank has partnered with eTranzact International Plc. to provide mobile payment services through its Straight2Bank Mobile Wallet. This is in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN's) Financial Inclusion strategy to the unbanked and semi-banked population.

The new mobile payment service enables clients such as development organisations, international organisations, non-bank financial institutions, agricultural companies and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies to make payments to both banked and unbanked individuals such as aid workers, trainers, policy holders, farmers and other beneficiaries.

In Kenya, the Bank added collections services to its "Straight2Bank Wallet" mobile capabilities, which will enable corporate clients to effortlessly collect monthly contributions or fees from individual clients via Safaricom's MPESA mobile service. This is geared towards eliminating the need for individuals to visit bank branches to make payments through manual instructions and cash. The end-to-end mobile transaction service ultimately helps boost efficiency in working capital management as it significantly lowers operating costs and risks associated with managing cash, and shortens the debt collection period for the Bank's corporate clients.

"Mobile phones are revolutionising financial services in Africa as the region is the second most connected with the fastest growth in mobile subscriptions in the world. Our corporate and development organization clients are keen to tap into the huge potential of mobile services and demand consistent coverage across the region beyond Kenya. As we continue to expand Straight2Wallet coverage in the coming months, the expansion of our mobile services in Kenya and Nigeria are testament to our commitment to our clients, the economies we operate in, and reaffirms our brand promise of 'Here for good'." Standard Chartered intends to continue expanding the Straight2Bank Wallet offering to other relevant countries across its footprint of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The Bank also plans to continue rolling out mobile payment and collections services to additional markets in Africa.